Description: Understanding the concept of equivalent fractions is hard for many students; especially when asked to show where fractions go on the number line. Here are some overhead transparencies you can make to show students how equivalent fractions measure up on the number line!

The first transparency should look like this:

0 ______________________________________________________________1

This establishes the fact that the set of common fractions will fall on the number line between 0 and 1.

The second transparency should be divided in halves and show 0 and 1.

0/2_____________________________1/2_____________________________2/2

The third transparency has the same distance divided into fourths.

0/4_____________1/4_____________2/4_____________3/4_____________4/4

The last transparency divides the distance into eighths.

0/8_____1/8_____2/8_____3/8_____4/8_____5/8_____6/8_____7/8_____8/8

When the students understand these, you can overlay them to show that 1/2, 2/4, and 4/8 are all equivalent, and so on.